Key U.S. lawmakers warn against arming Libyan opposition

Laaska News Apr.03,2011.
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) — Key U.S. lawmakers on Sunday warned against arming Libyan opposition, saying the United States should leave this to other nations.

In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he didn’t think it was currently necessary for the United States to arm rebels in Libya, arguing that leadership of the opposition group in Libya had yet to coalesce, and that the U.S. might be better served to let other countries provide such assistance.

“I spoke to the president yesterday about this, President Obama, and I think at this stage we really don’t know who the leaders of this rebel group is,” Reid said on Sunday morning.

“We have others, as (Defense) Secretary Gates has said, that can do it more easily than we can,” Reid said. “So I think at this stage let’s just wait and see.”

Reid emphasized that it was up to the Libyan people to determine the fate of the country’s political future.

Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the House, Congressman Mike Rogers, who’s been the man in closed- door classified briefings with the White House on Libya, told NBC’ s “Meet the Press” that there may be strains of al-Qaida within the rebel ranks and that the coalition should proceed with caution before arming them.